


Kallura Month 2017

by Aurora_Mandeville



Series: Kallura Month [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Kallura Month 2017, Rosegold, kallura
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2019-01-20 00:33:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12421383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aurora_Mandeville/pseuds/Aurora_Mandeville
Summary: One shots and excerpts from some ideas for Kallura





	1. Rise of the Paladins (Rise of the Guardians AU)

There came a knock at the door. Allura let out a breath before taking a quick look at herself in the mirror, her moon white locks cascaded past her shoulders and her dress brought out her blue eyes. Another knock was heard and Allura rushed to open it. There stood Keith, alias Jack O’Lantern, arms crossed, as usual, with his staff cuddled up in one elbow nook.  
“Keith! What are you doing here? I thought Coran was coming to get me?”  
A soft grin pulled at his lips. “Yeah, well, Coran didn’t want to leave Katie and Matt without supervision around all the equipment.”  
Allura stifled a giggle. “Ah yes, too true. Is he sure he couldn’t get Shiro to supervise them?”  
“He’s too busy with Lance and Hunk.”  
Allura let out a groan as she rolled her eyes. “Of course. Oh, alright, let’s get this over with.” She left her room, and the two walked down the corridor. Keith had raised up his staff just a bit to where the pumpkin at the end of it was dangling behind his back. Allura snuck a few glances at him out of the corner of her eye. It had only been a few months since she had chosen the six paladins and explained the whole situation to them. She was the princess of the moon, and it was her job, along with the paladins, to protect Earth, especially the children, from the evils of Zarkon. And now, well, they needed to come up with a plan soon for Zarkon somehow seemed to be getting stronger every minute, despite the new team being able to beat him back every time he showed his face.  
“Princess, may I ask you a question?” he asked, breaking the silence. She didn’t know why, but his voice always seemed to become so soft and gentle when he was talking to her, and she liked it. It was so soothing to hear.  
“Of course,” she replied cheerfully.  
“Why us?”  
“Say what?”  
“Why us? Why did you choose us to become paladins? Why is it that you and Hunk are the only ones who have code names that aren’t based off of British legends?”  
“Oh, the code names are easy to explain. The first paladins didn’t want the people of Earth to know their real names, and it was the first king of the moon’s idea to give them names based off of legendary figures. It stuck, and we’ve been cycling through the names ever since. The code names I chose for you have not been used in a very long time, and, I’ll admit, I’m a bit biased as a few of those legends were favorite tales of mine growing up. And yet, in a way, it’s like you all chose your own code names yourselves, I just knew which ones fit the best.”  
“But you had only just met us.”  
“Well, yes, but that’s part of my power, just like you and your, um, jack o’lanterns, or Lance with the sea, or Katie and Matt with plants. It’s . . . I’m afraid it’s something I can’t quite explain, I just know.” Keith merely nodded in reply. He seemed to understand what she was trying to say. She just hoped that she picked the right words.  
“But then, why each of us?”  
“Well, the castle pinpoints people who are paladin material. We are watching the Earth, after all, we’re going to notice a thing or two.”  
“So, basically you chose us because you saw us acting like paladins?”  
Allura let out a laugh, “I guess that’s a better way of putting it, but yes., we noticed you all acting like paladins, and we knew that you had to be the ones for the job. And I’m glad, I couldn’t have asked for a better team.” She smiled at him, he smiled back. That lost look he had when they first came was now practically gone, a sense of purpose and determination now radiated from him, making him so much more confident than when he first arrived. And Allura had to admit, she was liking this more-confident Keith. To be honest, she was liking him a whole lot. She quickly glanced away, she was finding herself getting lost in those eyes of his, those beautiful eyes. She chided herself, there wasn’t time for that! They were in the middle of a war with Zarkon, thinking about a pair of pretty eyes would have to wait. Thankfully, she was able to take her mind off pretty eyes as they entered the ship’s control room, and found herself staring at a strange, but silly sight. Coran was chasing Katie and Matt Holt around the control room, the two apparently fascinated with the technology.  
“No, don’t touch that! I don’t care if you’re a computer whiz, I said don’t touch it!”  
“See what I mean?” quipped Keith, a soft grin on his face. Allura clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles. But, sooner or later, they would have to let Katie and Matt touch the tech, they were the best with tech, even though both had plant powers. She glanced around the room to try and sober herself, and quickly found a reason.  
“Wait, where are Shiro, Lance, and Hunk?”  
Keith took a quick glance. “Where did they go? They were here when I left!” Coran and the siblings noticed them.  
“Oh, hello Princess, Keith, Shiro followed them to the pool,” stated Coran matter-of-factly as he quickly listed Katie’s finger off a button.  
Keith glanced at Allura with shock, “Wait, you have a pool here?”  
“Well, we don’t have the luxury of living on Earth, now, do we?” returned Allura with a hint of sadness in her smile.  
“Well, once we’ve defeated Zarkon, maybe you could . . .”  
“Hey, come on, put me down!” Lance’s voice echoed through the corridor behind them. They turned, and saw Hunk and Shiro walking back. Lance was tucked under Shiro’s arm, struggling to get out of the strong grip.  
“Excuse me, Keith, Princess,” said Shiro as he pushed between them.  
“Oh, hi gorgeous, wanna swim with me?” asked Lance, attempting to look cute as they went past. “Ah!” he screamed as Shiro dropped him unceremoniously. “Hey man, what was that for?” he exclaimed.  
“Listen, I know everyone’s excited about seeing the Moon Princess’ castle ship for the first time, but we’re still in the middle of a war,” stated Shiro firmly. He turned to Allura, “Princess, we should start coming up with a battle plan.”  
“A very good idea. But first, are there any questions anybody has for me?” Hunk quickly raised his hand. “Ah, yes, Hunk?”  
“Why don’t we match our code names?”  
“Uh, what do you mean? You do.”  
“As in, I’m Samoan, but Caishen is the Chinese god of wealth, prosperity . . . and good food. And we all know Jack O’Lantern and Guy Fawkes aren’t Asian, or that Davy Jones isn’t Cuban . . .”  
“Oh yes I am!” blurted Lance. Everyone chuckled.  
“Well, I guess I’m worried what others might think.”  
“Well Hunk, if people are going to complain about it, you just tell them that a dark-skinned, white-haired Henge chose you, and if they have any concerns with the different culture of the legend and the person bearing that name, they can talk to me and explain to me why it’s wrong.” Katie and Lance let out a cheer while the others clapped. Allura felt a nudge and glanced over. Keith shot her a wink.  
“Atta girl.” Allura felt a warmth rise to her cheeks, but she gave him a big grin. She turned to everyone.  
“Alright, now, let’s work on a plan to take out Zarkon once and for all!”  
“Right!” they chorused.  
“Hey, Allura, thanks, for everything,” uttered Keith softly.  
“No, thank you.” Without realizing what she was doing, she planted a kiss on his cheek. The two looked at each other in surprise before Allura blushed furiously and walked away. Keith stood there stunned for a few seconds, but when he joined the others, he couldn’t quite keep the grin off his face.


	2. The Sleeping Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quick romance, perhaps, but sometimes, you just know.

“Roselle, could you go get some juniberries for the table tonight?”   
“Of course, Aunt Trigel! Is something special happening tonight?” asked Roselle as she fiddled with her white hair. She had an idea of what it was, but, she didn’t want to spoil the fun for her aunt and uncles.   
“Oh, I don’t know. Grigan just wanted to fix something extra special tonight and wanted everything to look spectacular,” replied Trigel with a shrug. Roselle had to admit as she stifled a giggle, Aunt Trigel was really trying hard not to give it away.   
“Well, alright Aunt Trigel, if Uncle Grigan insists. Oh, where’s Uncle Blaytz?”   
Trigel shrugged again. “Who knows with him. Maybe Grigan sent him into town for some ingredients. Grigan just told me to ask you to get some juniberries and for me to start cleaning up the dining room and polish the silverware,” replied Trigel with a groan.   
Roselle chuckled nervously. “Oh, I see. Well, I shall make it quick so I can hurry back and help you Aunt Trigel!”   
“Oh would you? Thank you! You are such a darling!” exclaimed Trigel as she gave Roselle a quick hug.   
“No problem, Aunt Trigel, I’ll be back in a jiffy!” With a wave of her hand, Roselle rushed out the door, grabbing a basket and her cloak on the way out. But no sooner had the door closed behind than Trigel’s face fell as she walked back into the kitchen.   
“Sixteen years, Grigan, can you believe it?” she asked as Grigan chopped vegetables in an expert whirl.   
He paused in his chopping as he shot Trigel a sad look. “Yes, and tonight, she won’t be our little Roselle anymore, but Princess Allura.”   
“I know, it will come as quite a shock to her.”   
“Yes, I just hope Blaytz gets back here with the dress before she does,” said Grigan with a sigh before resuming his chopping. Trigel merely nodded before turning to the dining room, itching to get started doing something or else the tears would fall.   
Meanwhile, knowing quite well it was her sixteenth birthday but completely unaware not only of the fact that they were to bring her to her parents that night, but also that she was a princess, Roselle hummed a little diddly as she went around the forest picking juniberries, her favorite flower. The forest animals, particularly the mice, the only friends she had ever had, rushed under her feet, scurrying from one juniberry to another.   
“Well, I think that’s enough juniberries for now, don’t you think?” One of the mice squeaked at her. “No, I won’t be going back, not yet. They have this whole surprise birthday party planned for me, and I don’t want to ruin the fun!” The mice squeaked as she walked over to a river and sat down on its bank. She took her shoes off and dipped her feet into the water. “Besides, Uncle Blaytz needs more time to return with my birthday present. That’s one surprise I really won’t know what it is.” The mice squeaked again. “Well of course he needs more time, you know how he gets with the ladies in the market.” The mice snickered, mimicking her. “But, out of everything I’d want for my birthday, I’d really want some friends my own age. Don’t get me wrong, I love Aunt Trigel, Uncle Blaytz, and Uncle Grigan dearly, but, I’d like to be able to talk to a few people closer to my age. Just to meet new people period! My books are full of them, I just wish I could meet someone for real.”   
“Whoa!” echoed a voice. Roselle and the animals jumped up from the river bank and dashed behind some bushes, just as a greyish blue hippogriff and rider came bounding into the river, the hippogriff unceremoniously dumping its rider into the river, creating quite the wave.   
“Shiro!” called out another voice as a second rider on a black hippogriff came into view. The rider dismounted and rushed to Shiro’s side. “Shiro! Are you alright?” Roselle blinked as she felt her heart flutter, the second rider was rather cute, with his dark hair and eyes.   
Shiro let out a laugh. “I’m fine, Keith, no broken bones or anything. Just soaking wet, and maybe my pride got a little hurt, but nothing major.”   
Keith let out a sigh. “Well, good, then I wouldn’t be able to do this.” He punched Shiro’s left arm.   
“Ow!”   
“You were following me, weren’t you?”   
“Uh, we kind of all were,” came another voice as four more people showed up, three boys and one girl.  
“Hunk! Now why’d you go and tell him that?’ asked another boy.   
“What? He would have figured it out. He’s not exactly stupid, Lance.”   
“His dad has us follow him practically everywhere,” mumbled the third fellow.   
“Yeah, just, remind me why Katie has to come again?” asked Lance.   
Katie shot him a scowl. “And what’s wrong with me coming? If it weren’t for me, you would have lost him already.”   
“Back off, Lance, this is my sister.”   
“Alright, Matt, Lance, you two knock it off,” said Shiro.   
“Then tell Lance he needs to stop belittling my sister or hitting on her, he can’t do both,” grumbled Matt as he crossed his arms.  
Shiro let out a sigh as he turned to Keith. “Point is . . .”  
“I know, I know, Dad wants me to meet still-missing Princess Allura, my betrothed. What’s the point of this again? She hasn’t been seen in the past sixteen years!”   
“Hey, you were the one who said you couldn’t marry a girl you had never met, and had never known. So, Dad figured you should go and meet her.”   
Keith let out a sigh as the anger in his face subsided, though his arms were crossed. “Oh, fine. I’ll, I’ll go, but, but can I at least stay here in the countryside for a little while longer? It’s, it’s kind of pretty here.”   
Shiro smiled at him. “You see? Maybe becoming the king of Altea might not be such a bad thing after all.” Shiro patted him on his back before walking towards his hippogriff and climbing on.   
“Are you sure we can trust him to get to the castle?” asked Lance.   
“More so than we can trust you,” quipped Matt. Lance shot him a glare.   
“Come on you four, let’s get to the castle for now. If Keith doesn’t show up by dusk, I’ll come look for him myself, and he’s not going to like it.” Shiro shot Keith a ‘I mean it’ glance. Keith just nodded in reply before walking back towards his hippogriff and climbing on it. The whole time, Roselle watched mesmerized from the bushes and kept wanting to reveal her presence, but it didn’t seem like an appropriate moment, even as she watched Keith’s friends and brother ride away towards the castle. Though, she also did her best to keep from bouncing up and down, she was looking at two handsome princes and their paladins! Like straight out of one of her fairy tales! And the prince she thought was the cutest was betrothed to the Princess Allura! Though he did have a point, she had not been seen for the past sixteen years, why would tonight be any different? Did King Alfor know where she was and that she would be returning to him that night? But she did sympathise with him, having to marry a princess he had never met was a bit wrong.   
“You can come out now,” said Keith as he sat down on the river bank, his hippogriff tethered to a nearby tree. Roselle blinked, did he mean her? “Come, on I won’t hit you, I promise. That was just for my brother. I know he means well, but, he also needs to stop following my father’s orders to the letter if he wants me to become the leader he sees in me.” Roselle slowly stood up, Keith dark eyes looking straight at her. But she noticed he did a double take. Was there something the matter with her looks? Oh, maybe there were leaves in her hair. She ran her fingers through her hair, but found nothing, just Keith’s eyes focused on her in a strange way. “Well, um, hello,” he said softly. The change in his voice gave Roselle the courage to speak.   
“Well, hello yourself, your majesty.” She quickly gave a curtsy. She glanced back up at him, he was smiling.   
“I’ll admit, you weren’t exactly what I was expecting,” he stated, tilting his head a bit. “What are you doing out here?” he asked. But then he noticed her basket. “Ah, gathering juniberries for your table?”   
“Yes, today’s my sixteenth birthday,” replied Roselle with a smile.   
“Well, happy birthday. Sorry about the drama you saw, hope it didn’t spoil your birthday.”   
“Not at all. If you don’t mind my saying so, it actually made it better!” Keith’s eyebrow went up questioningly. Roselle blushed slightly. “You see, right before your brother, Prince Shiro fell into the river, I was wishing to meet some people.”   
“You don’t get out much, huh?”   
“Not, really, at least not to accompany my Uncle Blaytz on his trips to market. Besides him, Uncle Grigan, and Aunt Trigel, I never see anyone.”   
“That, that sounds rather lonely,” muttered Keith. He motioned her forward. “Why don’t you take a seat? I’m sorry we interrupted your wishmaking.”   
Roselle gave a little chuckle as she sat down next to him. “You’re fine, you were just the answer to my wish, that’s all.”   
“And I’m sorry I sent the others away, they can get annoying sometimes, but they’re a great bunch.”   
“I bet. So, you’re going to be king of Altea one day, huh?”   
Keith let out a sigh. “Yes, don’t remind me.”   
“I’m sorry.”   
“It’s not your fault, I guess it comes with being a prince, and having a father who’s best friend just so happens to be King Alfor. And they’ve been planning this since King Alfor’s daughter Allura was born apparently. I was barely two at the time, so I have no memory of meeting her for the first time back then.”   
Roselle snorted. “I wouldn’t exactly expect you to.” Keith laughed.   
“So, what’s it like being a peasant?”   
“Um, alright, I guess, I mean, I think I’m one of the lucky ones. I always have a food on the table, clothes to wear, books to read . . .”   
Keith blinked in surprise. “Books? You really are lucky, you’re practically the daughter of a paladin or something, not many peasants have books. Trust me, I’ve heard enough complaints from them to know that at least.”   
“Really? Wow. Well, I don’t know whose daughter I am, I mean, my aunt and uncles won’t tell me anything about them. I’ve just about given up asking them. Maybe now that I’m sixteen, they’ll tell me.”   
“I hope so, they should, you kind of need to know that. So that way, you know who you are and where you can go.”   
“Exactly, and I really want to know, just to know who my parents were. Did they leave a legacy that I have to keep or protect? What did they do? Why am I here? Things like that.”   
“Of course, it’s only natural that you should ask those questions, and more. You never knew them, you want as much information as you can get.”   
“Well, thanks for understanding.”   
“Not at all. I’d do the same if I was in your position. But enough of that. Why don’t you tell me more about yourself?” Roselle brightened at Prince Keith’s question and the two talked for hours, there, by the river. When she walked home, she had the brightest smile and the dreamiest look on her face. Prince Keith had to leave, it was only a couple of hours until dusk, and he had promised to be at the castle by then. But, he gave her a kiss on the cheek as he had nothing else to give her for her birthday, and as thanks for getting to know him and letting him rant. She also knew that it had given her aunt and uncle plenty of time to get the house prepared for her surprise birthday. Her eyes widened, she had promised to be back soon enough to help Aunt Trigel with cleaning and polishing silverware! She made a mad dash towards the cottage.   
“Aunt Trigel! I am so sorry! I completely forgot . . .”   
“Surprise! Happy Birthday!” shouted the three as they jumped up from under the dining table. Roselle gasped, there, sitting on the table, was the most exquisite three-tiered cake decorated with sugary juniberries and roses and the most gorgeous dress was draped over her chair. It was pink and blue with golden juniberries and roses embroidered into the bodice and sleeves.   
“Oh. Oh! Oh! It’s so beautiful! Thank you!” she exclaimed as she kissed each on their cheek. “Where did you get this? How did you get this?” she asked as she fingered the dress. The three glanced at each other sadly and let out sighs. “What?”   
“We’re sorry, Roselle . . .” began Trigel.   
“We should have told you earlier, but, we just didn’t know how,” finished Grigan.   
“My, my parents?” Roselle asked. The three nodded.   
Blaytz let out a breath. “Your parents . . . are still alive.”   
“Wait, what are you saying?”   
“We brought you here to keep you safe, Roselle. Your life was threatened when you were a baby, so your father had us take you here and raise you until you were old enough . . .”   
“And ready,” pointed out Grigan.   
“To return.” finished Blaytz.   
“So . . .”   
“So, we’re bringing you to them, tonight,” said Trigel.  
“But, who are they?” The three glanced at each other before Blaytz let out a breath.   
“That’s the other thing, your name isn’t Roselle, you’re Princess Allura, King Alfor’s daughter.”   
At the castle, King Alfor wasn’t the only person anxious for his daughter’s return, Keith was worried that he might not even like her after all, and said so to Shiro.   
“Well, you’re just going to have to pretend to like her, if that’s the case,” stated Shiro. Keith merely shot him a glare.   
“You’re not really helping,” he grumbled.   
“Sorry, but, I am trying.”   
“I’ll give you that.”   
“So, are you going to tell me exactly what’s on your mind? What happened after we left you in the forest? You keep avoiding it, don’t try to pull the wool over my eyes, Keith. I know when you’re trying to hide something. I haven’t been your brother this long and not know.”   
Keith let out a sigh. Should he tell him? Though, if it had to between telling Shiro or their father, it would be Shiro. “I . . . I met a peasant girl and we, we talked, a lot.”   
“Oh,” muttered Shiro. “So, it’s not that you might not like the Princess, it’s that you might like this peasant girl too much?” Keith nodded. “Oh, well, I’ll try to help you however I can with that Keith, but, you might have to handle that yourself.”   
“I know.” A trumpet rang out.   
“What’s that for? I thought the Princess wasn’t due until close to midnight?”   
“Oh, right, you weren’t here when they made the announcement. King Alfor is going to explain everything to us.”   
“Really? Well, that’s good to know. At least one mystery will be solved.”   
“No kidding. Come on, I don’t know about you, but I’m curious to what King Alfor knows about his daughter’s disappearance.”   
“Me too. Let’s go.” The two dashed down the castle halls, ending up in the throne room where many others had already gathered, Keith’s and Shiro’s paladins among them. Keith and Shiro were allowed to get closer to the throne when King Alfor appeared. Keith had never seen him before and sucked in his breath, he looked almost exactly like Roselle! Could it be?   
“Thank you all for coming today and celebrate not only the return of my beautiful daughter, but also her sixteenth birthday!” A cheer went up, but Keith began to panic. It was Roselle’s birthday too! This was becoming too eerie. “I would like to tell you all a story. Many years ago, at my daughter’s christening, I had in fact invited many of you. You may not remember the details, but not long after my daughter was named, the witch Haggar appeared and revealed that the day my daughter turned sixteen she was to prick her finger on a spinning wheel, and die!” Gasps resounded in the hall as Keith put two and two together. “One of my paladins was able to lessen the curse and state that she would not die, but sleep for ten thousand years or until true love’s kiss, whichever comes first. But I thought it best to send her away, to keep her safe, until the day of her sixteenth birthday was past. As soon as the sun sets, my daughter will not have to fear that witch’s curse!” Keith’s hand shot up. “Ah, yes, Prince Keith, her betrothed! What is it, my boy?”   
“Wouldn’t Witch Haggar try to find her before the day is out?”   
“Quite possibly, as she has been doing these past sixteen years. The fact that she hasn’t found her yet means she was hidden well. So well, that she was practically under Haggar’s nose this entire time. She has not left the country, she’s not even a day’s ride from the castle.” Keith gulped, he didn’t want to risk that, now that he suspected the king to be Roselle’s father. No, not Roselle, Allura. “Now my friends, we feast! Soon the princess, my dear daughter, shall be among us again!” Everyone, including Hunk, as Keith knew, wandered towards the table where piles of food were waiting to be eaten. But Keith’s eye was caught by a dark figure leaving the room.  
“Keith, where are you going?” asked Shiro as he followed his brother not to the table, but to the door.   
“You know that peasant girl I was telling you about?”   
“Wait, you can’t exactly walk out on the Princess now . . .”   
“No, I’m beginning to think she is the Princess.”   
“What?”   
Keith pulled him close and whispered, “She has the exact same hair color and skin color as King Alfor. Her sixteenth birthday is today, and she has no clue who her parents are. If she is living with her father’s paladins acting as her aunt and uncles, then she may be fine, but, I’m not going to take a chance. I just saw a figure leaving the castle, and if that was Haggar or someone working for Hagger, then King Alfor just gave away his daughter’s location. I’m going to make sure she gets back here safely, and I’m leaving, now.” With that, Keith rushed out of the castle. Shiro stood there stunned for a moment before recollecting himself and calling Matt and Lance to him.   
“We need to go after Keith, now.”   
“Again? When will he ever stop?” whined Lance before shooting a wink at a lovely lady walking past.   
“This time, he has reason to believe that he met the princess in the forest, and that someone working for Haggar just overheard the king give away his daughter’s location. He’s gone to make sure that she gets here safely. I think we should go make sure they both get back safely. Now let’s go!” But by the time they got out to the stalls, Keith had already gotten a pretty good head start. The three didn’t waste any time, saddled their hippogriffs, and took off after the youngest prince. The pieces were set into motion, as it was someone working for Haggar who had left the castle and reported immediately to her. By then, Roselle, or Allura, had gotten over her initial shock, not just about being the princess, but also that she was betrothed to the cute Prince Keith, though that seemed more of a shock that she had met and gotten to know her betrothed before they really knew they were betrothed to each other. The three paladins of King Alfor was escorting her to the castle, taking the side roads through the forest, though the ones closest to the main road, in case they ever needed aid. But aid rode right past them as Keith tore through the forest on his steed, passing them as they entered into a spot on the trail that made them invisible to the main road. Some time later, Shiro, Matt, and Lance rode past too, but as they had no idea what Allura looked like, paid no attention to the four on the side of the road and kept their focus on Keith. Haggar was soon making her way towards the castle as well, a soft cackling emanating from her chest. Alfor was a fool, the curse would be rendered obsolete at midnight, giving her enough time to put her plan into action, and give her husband the kingdom he wanted, finally.   
Allura sat down in the chair at her vanity in her new room alone, still in shock over the events of the whole day. She was a princess, the Princess Allura? What was her father like? She met her betrothed and was falling in love with him? What did he think of her? Would he like her once he found out? And the curse, the curse that the Witch Haggar placed on her when she was an infant but that Trigel was able to lessen. Why did the witch want her dead? Blaytz suggested that it had to do with her being the heir to Altea, a country that Haggar’s husband Zarkon had wanted for a long time but was reluctant to go to war with Alfor, knowing that Alfor was the better strategist and had the better army. But, was that really it? She let out a breath, she really needed to stop mulling over everything, she had no idea what lay ahead of her! But, one thing was certain, she would get to know so many wonderful people! She especially couldn’t wait to get to know Keith’s paladins, particularly Katie. Allura felt her heart fluttering again as she set her head down on the vanity with a romantic sigh as she thought of Keith. His smile, his laugh, the softness in his voice when he spoke to her.   
“Allura?” came the soft echo of a voice.   
“Keith?” asked Allura, rising from her chair in excitement. Had he realized who she was?   
“Allura,” came the answer. “Allura.” That was definitely his voice.   
“Keith!” She started to move towards the spot where the voice was coming from and paused, should she tell the paladins? She shook her head, she didn’t even tell them that she had already met Keith and that she knew she was betrothed to him, and was already falling in love. She rushed towards the spot and found a secret doorway opening behind the mantle. She gave a little giggle. “Oh, Keith, you already know more about my castle than I do?”   
“Allura, could you come here?” came the voice again. Allura peered into the secret room and saw a stairway. She quickly dashed up the stairs and came to a tiny room with a balcony and a strange wheel in the middle of it. Taking a step back, Allura glanced around the room, becoming uneasy.   
“Keith? Are you here? Keith?”   
“Oh, I’m afraid the handsome young prince is being detained,” cackled a voice from the shadows as Allura whirled to see a woman stepping out.   
“Where is he? What have you done to him?” shouted Allura.   
“Oh, he’s not the one you should be worried about,” the woman uttered threateningly.   
Allura let out a gasp. “You’re Haggar!”   
“And behind you is a spinning wheel,” shouted Haggar as she pushed Allura. Allura fell back and tried to grab a hold of the spinning wheel to right herself, pricking her finger in the process. Haggar laughed. “Alfor thought he could fool us! And now I shall make sure your beloved will never wake you, so you shall sleep for ten thousand years!”   
“No! Keith!” muttered Allura as she lost consciousness.   
Meanwhile, the handsome young prince had found the cottage and burst in.   
“Roselle! Allura! Is anybody here?” When no answer came, he hurriedly checked all the rooms. When he was absolutely sure that they had already left, Keith proceeded towards the front, and stopped. There was a tall figure standing in the doorway.   
“Oh, hello, Prince Keith, I assume?” drolled the voice.   
“Who are you?”   
“I am King Zarkon, and I have something you want.”   
“You have Allura?” asked Keith fearfully. He knew that Zarkon had always wanted Altea, was he really the one behind Haggar’s threats?  
“More like, I have you.”   
“What? Unnh . . .” Keith was hit from behind and it knocked him out.   
“Quickly, his paladins will no doubt be close. Get him to Haggar’s house, she’ll know what to do.”   
“And what of you, your majesty?” asked the Galra soldier.   
“I shall wait till dawn before I tear down Alfor once and for all.” With that, Zarkon walked out of the cottage, followed not long after by the Galra soldier, Keith’s unconscious body slumped over his shoulder. They split up from there, Zarkon heading west while the Galra soldier went north, only a few miles towards Haggar’s house. In their haste, they completely forgot one essential piece, Keith’s faithful steed. The hippogriff followed the Galra soldier until it came within sight of the house before turning and rushing back to the cottage. By the time it arrived, Shiro, Matt, and Lance had arrived at the cottage and were looking for Keith, shouting his name. It was Lance who noticed the hippogriff and pointed it out to the others.   
“Oh no,” muttered Shiro as they rushed towards him. “Hey buddy, can you show us where your rider is?” The hippogriff nodded and indicated the direction it had come from. “Come on, Keith’s in trouble!” said Shiro as he climbed onto his hippogriff. The three raced after Keith’s hippogriff as it led them towards Haggar’s house. By that time, Haggar was returning to her house from putting Allura to sleep, and Alfor’s paladins had just found Allura, slumped over the spinning wheel as if dead. They were in a panic, they had no idea what to do, and since Allura had not told them about Keith, they didn’t know that they could break the curse that very night.   
When Keith came to, he found himself chained up in a dungeon. The cackling laugh of a witch brought his attention to the figure on the other side of the bars.   
“Perfect, so perfect. Princess Allura has touched the spinning wheel, and now I have you here, to stay until your death.”   
“No! Why are you doing this?”   
“Why else? Come now, you were clearly smart enough to figure out who Allura was at the same time as us and figured out where she lived. Can’t you figure it out?”   
“So, you are working for Zarkon.”   
“But of course, I am after all, his wife.” Keith’s eyes widened at the revelation. “Yes, that’s right, the best kept secret on the whole continent, I am Zarkon’s wife. So, of course I’d work for him. But I must admit, this worked out rather well for us. Your concern for her caused you to make foolish decisions, and now, you won’t be able to save her.” Keith grunted as he strained against the chains. “Don’t even bother, your majesty, those chains won’t even break for a Galra soldier, and the only key is with me. You can fight all you want, but you’re here to rot.” Haggar shot him a cruel grin before walking away with the key in full view. Keith struggled against the chains a bit more until he stopped and panted. But hope and determination were still in his eyes.   
“If I know my brother, he’s probably on his way now with Matt and Lance. Then the joke will be on you, you witch,” he muttered. As he thought, Shiro, Matt, and Lance were on their way, only a few minutes away, in fact. They were watching the house from behind the trees, not knowing that practically beneath them was Keith’s cell.   
“What should we do, Shiro?” asked Lance. The paladins had hardly ever used anything but the princes’ names since coming into service, the group having become fast friends, even though Lance and Keith butted heads from time to time. Which often resulted in Matt siding with Keith on just about everything, despite being Shiro’s primary paladin.   
“I count six guards. There may be more, and that’s not including the witch.”   
“So, how do we get past all of that?”   
“There’s already two to one, and we’re humans,” pointed out Matt.   
Shiro let out a huff before turning to Lance. “Lance, how’s your aim?”   
“Uh, pretty good. Why . . . oh. Oh yes, I like this.” Lance grinned as he pulled out his longbow and arrows.   
“That’s what I thought. Matt, you’re going to have to cover me.”   
“Right,” replied Matt as he pulled out his crossbow.   
“I’m going to see how many I can lure out here. But if you think you can take a shot, take it. We need to take down as many of these guards as possible.”   
“Right,” chorused the two paladins. Shiro crept towards the house, followed by Matt, while Lance took up his position behind a log and readied his bow. Matt paused behind the closest tree to the house and watched as Shiro continued on. He managed to lure a few guards towards Matt, who took them all down with a shot at each. But it still left at least three more, but Lance found a few opportunities to take a shot, and took them. Seven guards were down, but they still had one witch and who knows how many more in the house itself.   
“Of all the places for a witch to live, why this old house? Why not some creepy castle, or something?” asked Lance when he joined Matt and Shiro at the front door.   
“Well, it’s close to Alfor’s castle, and it’s out of the way enough that, like Princess Allura’s cottage, not many people would have noticed it,” replied Shiro. “Besides, I thought you didn’t like creepy castles.”   
“Heh heh, good point,” stated Lance. Matt shot him a mischievous grin as Shiro knocked on the door. “Shiro! Why’d you knock?”   
“Just be ready.” Matt and Lance raised their bows, but when no answer came, Matt helped Shiro break down the door. They walked in a few steps before ducking to the side. But nothing seemed to stop them, no sign of any other guards or the witch. But they proceeded with caution. They found the dungeons rather quickly, and Keith.   
“Keith!”   
“Shiro!” exclaimed Keith as he pulled on his chains to get closer to the door. “The witch has the key . . .” Cackling interrupted him. Matt and Lance raised their bows as the witch descended the stairs.   
“Did you think it would be this easy?”   
“No, I didn’t, that’s why I knocked,” replied Shiro. Haggar glanced at him questioningly. Lance and Matt did as well.   
“Uh, Shiro, are you alright?” asked Lance.   
“Don’t take your eyes off her!” shouted Keith. The two quickly swiveled their heads and kept their eyes on Haggar.   
“What your game, Prince Shiro?” asked Haggar creepily.   
“If I told you, it wouldn’t be much of a game, now, would it?” replied Shiro.   
“Uh, Shiro, you’re kind of creeping me out right about now,” remarked Lance. But Matt saw a chance, and took it. His arrow whizzed by the witch. “Matt, why’d you do that?” exclaimed Lance as the witch rushed back up the stairs.   
“Keep with her, don’t let her out of your sights!” ordered Shiro. Matt and Lance rushed up after the witch while Shiro rushed towards the arrow, from which the keys dangled.   
“That was a great shot,” remarked Keith with a grin as Shiro unlocked the door and his chains.   
“Yes, but, I don’t think Matt will be as lucky next time. Come on! We need to take care of this witch.”   
“I need to get to Allura, that witch got her to prick her finger on a spinning wheel!”   
“What? Then all the more reason to take her down faster. Come on!” The two raced up the stairs where they found Lance and Matt exchanging fire with Haggar. They both would shoot an arrow before needing to duck when Haggar shot bolt of purple lightning at them.   
“If they can keep her occupied long enough, we can come from the back,” said Keith. Shiro blinked in surprise for a second before nodding in agreement. The two grabbed swords and snuck around behind Haggar. But she saw them and shot a few bolts their way, causing them to duck. Matt and Lance took the opportunity to shoot at her, their arrows piercing her skin. She cried out, giving Shiro and Keith the opportunity to finish the job.   
“Alright, everyone, back to the castle!” shouted Shiro before rushing out the door, Keith on his tail. Matt and Lance looked at each other and shrugged before quickly following. They mounted their hippogriffs and rode off towards the castle. It was practically twilight when they reached the stables. They made a dash for it, bursting into the throne room where Grigan, Blaytz, and Trigel were gently breaking the news to Alfor about Allura.   
“Where’s Allura?” asked Keith as the group rushed up to Alfor practically out of breath.   
“Uh, what?” asked Blaytz.   
“This is Allura’s betrothed, the Prince Keith,” stated Alfor, his voice dripping with sorrow.   
“She’s, she’s in her, her room,” muttered Trigel as tears streamed down her face.   
“Where were you?” asked Katie.   
“Oh, long story short, we just saved Keith and defeated Haggar. All in a day’s work,” replied Lance, looking quite pleased with the accomplishment.   
“Well, that’s a bit of good news, thank you for your service,” said Alfor.   
“”Uh, speaking of Keith, where did he go?” asked Hunk, noticing the absence of the prince. Everyone glanced around, Keith was nowhere to be found.   
“Ugh, what is it with him and going off by himself?” complained Lance as the group set off in search of him. Keith didn’t wait around to listen to anything else, he pretty much knew where the princess’ room was supposed to be, one of the manservants had kept going on and on about it, so Keith practically knew his way there and took off for it. He soon found it, and Allura, who looked like she was sleeping peacefully on her bed. He sat down on the bed and pulled a lock of her hair from her face as he slowed down his breath to match hers. He bent over, and kissed her gently on the lips. He pulled back, just in time to see her eyes flutter open and beam at him.   
Zarkon walked into the throne room with a purpose, and came off as rather rude as he merely pushed a couple of people out of his way to get to the throne room.   
“Alfor! We need to talk!” he shouted as he burst into the room.   
“That we do,” said Alfor as he approached.   
“About your daughter in particular . . .” Zarkon paused as a young couple entered the throne room from a side door, the girl’s arm looped around the boy’s. Zarkon’s eyes widened when he recognized the young prince from the night before.   
“Father? Are we interrupting anything?” asked Allura  
“Oh, no, not as far as I know, King Zarkon said he wanted to talk to me about you,” replied Alfor as he rose to plant a kiss on her cheek. “Though, I probably should talk to him about princes, considering that this young man has swooped in and practically stolen my daughter from under my nose. And I haven’t even had her back for a day!” Keith grinned before bursting into a chuckle. He turned to Zarkon, “I’m sorry, Zarkon, as you were saying?”   
“Um, perhaps, perhaps your daughter might like to meet my son, Lotor? As an alternative to this, prince.”   
“Oh, I don’t know, I think my daughter has come to like Prince Keith quite well. And I’ll admit, he’s come to grow on me as well. Kind of reminds me of myself when I was his age.”   
Keith blinked. ‘Really?”   
Alfor grinned. “We’ll talk later. How about you two go enjoy the gardens? I’ll join you once I’ve finished speaking with King Zarkon and tell you both about my younger days. Why don’t you go with them Coran, get them started with the tales, perhaps?”   
“Ah, yes, those were the days,” replied Coran. “We’ll be in the gazebo!” he shouted as he ushered Keith and Allura out.   
“Right!” Alfor turned to Zarkon. “Anything else you would like to add, Zarkon?”   
“Uh, no, thank you for your time.” Zarkon beat a hasty retreat. Alfor chuckled before heading out of the throne room to join his daughter and his future son-in-law. But before he did so, he stopped to look at them, sitting together and chuckling at Coran’s stories, so thoroughly in love, despite knowing each other for only one day. They would come to know more about each other as the days went on, but, there was something about them, something that, just as the curse knew, stated they were meant to be together.


	3. Little Mouse and Koumainu: Allura's POV (Miraculous AU)

“Allura! Allura, hurry it up, you’re going to be late for your first day of school!”   
“Coming, Coran!” yelled Allura before stuffing the last of her breakfast in her mouth.   
“Oh come on, Allura, if you can’t finish breakfast before you leave, then you’re just going to have to get up earlier,” remarked her father as he sipped from his coffee.   
“Sorry Father, I’m just so excited! I can’t wait to go to school! And I can’t wait to have my cousin as my teacher!”   
Alfor chuckled. “I’m sure you do, but if you talk about it for another minute, you’re going to be late.”   
“Oh, right. Goodbye, Father.” Allura gave her father a quick peck on the cheek.  
“Goodbye Allura, and good luck!” He waved to her as she dashed out of the room. She grabbed her backpack, sitting by the front door, and dashed out to the car, Coran already waiting for her, twiddling his thumbs impatiently.   
“You can’t be late like that again, they, and your father, won’t like it,” said Coran as he pulled out of the driveway.   
“Sorry, Coran, I’m just so excited, and nervous. I’ve never been to a real school before. I wanted to make sure I have everything,” replied Allura as she fumbled with her seat belt. She finally got it buckled as he turned off their street.   
“Ah, yes, high school, such four short and exciting years. Depends on which clique you belong to as well.”   
“Clique?”   
“Ah, yes, some cliques are looked down on and are considered the scum of the earth, while others are practically the royalty of the school,” Coran stated matter-of-factually.   
“What? No one should be treated like the scum of the earth! I’ll run for class president and try to change that!” exclaimed Allura.   
“Ah yes, if only it were that simple. Unfortunately, it seems that every year, certain cliques, or sometimes, certain people, are treated the same way. And, also unfortunately, those behaviors stay with those teenagers, and . . . well, it accounts for a lot of the behaviors you see in adults today, the nicer ones tend to be the ones who were bullied, and the meaner ones tend to be the bullies,” he explained, only glancing at her every now and then so as to keep his eyes on the road.   
Allura glanced at him in surprise, “Really?”   
“Well, that’s the general idea, it’s not always the case, mind you,” he pointed out as he took another turn.   
Allura leaned back in her seat and let out a sigh. “So, there’s not much that I can do, huh?”   
“Oh no, there is something you can do. You can still make a difference, it’s up to you when and how. Every change starts with baby steps. Well, here we are. What do you think?” asked Coran as he slowed to a stop in front of the school.   
“Wow!” said Allura with a slight, squeaky gasp.  
“Rather impressive, isn’t it? Well, I think it’s time to say goodbye, your first class should be starting soon!”   
Allura bent over gave Coran a quick hug. “Thank you!” She quickly unbuckled her seatbelt, grabbed her backpack, and got out of the car.   
“Oh, and remember to get together a list of all the clubs you want to join and their times!”  
“Yes, Coran.”   
“And remember to invite your cousins over for dinner this Saturday . . .”   
“Yes Coran.”   
“And ask them what they like!”   
“Yes, Coran, I will! Don’t worry, I’m not a little girl anymore!” Allura said with an exasperated sigh.   
Coran began to tear up. “I know, but you will always be one to me and your father.”   
“Really?” asked Allura, placing her hands on her hips.  
“Alright, you’d better get in there. You’ve still got plenty of time to find your locker and your first class. Have fun!” And the next second, Coran zoomed off, leaving Allura wondering what in the world just happened. But she shook it off and dashed for the school, excitement building with every step. Her fellow classmates were already piling into the school, everyone chatting away as the students flooded into the halls. Allura ignored most of it, she was much more focused on finding her locker and her first class. She took out her schedule and searched for her locker number, eventually finding it down a couple of halls. She used the combination given to her and unlocked it, unloading everything she would not need for her first class into the locker. She closed it, locked it, and turned her attention to finding her first class.   
“Well, hello there gorgeous. You’re new here, aren’t you?” asked a boy. The first thing she noticed were his ears.   
“Your ears . . .”   
“Uh, yeah?” he asked, touching his left ear.   
“They’re hideous,” she straight up stated.   
“Hey! They heard what you said about them! And they’re not happy! Neither am I!”   
“Hey Lance! Stop flirting with pretty girls and come help us!” Allura glanced behind the boy, two others were standing behind him with boxes.   
“Yeah man, Mr. Takashi is not going to like it when he finds out you’ve been slacking,” said the taller of the two.   
“Well, tell him that Keith was slacking off too!” Lance blurted, pointing out the dark-haired teen, who was at that moment walking out of the room with two boxes.   
“As you were saying, Lance?” he asked coolly, a small smirk forming on his face. Lance grumbled as he shot Keith a glare and ducked into the classroom.   
“Hey, um, do you guys need any help?” asked Allura.   
“No thanks, we’ve got it,” said Keith as he walked past. The tone of his voice seemed to change for her, it became much softer, and, in a way, kinder. Allura hoped she wasn’t blushing at that moment as, she had to admit, Keith was kind of cute.  
“Hey, are you new here?” asked the smaller of the other two.   
“Why yes, my name’s Allura, and my first class is with Mr. Takashi!”  
“Really! Same with us! We’re heading that way, so maybe you could join us. I’m Katie, by the way, and this big guy is Hunk.”   
“Nice to meet you,” said Hunk, giving her a hand to shake, balancing the box with the other.   
“Nice to meet you too!”  
“Come on you slowpokes, class is going to start in a couple of minutes!”   
“Hold your horses, Keith, we’re coming!” called out Lance as he walked past them with another box.   
“Well, that’s Lance, and the grumpy guy up ahead is our class rep, Keith,” Hunk said, formally introducing the other two.   
“Yeah, we’ve met. Clearly she doesn’t like my ears, and they’re still hurt about it.”   
“I’m sorry, but they were the first things I noticed. Now that I look at your whole face, I think they fit you well.”   
Katie leaned in and whispered, “You really shouldn’t have complimented him.”   
“Oh, really? So, would you be interested in joining me for a date?” asked Lance with a flirtatious grin as he stepped in line with Allura.   
“Lance! Today is her first day of school, give her some air!” Keith blurted. They had caught up with him, he was standing in front of a class room.   
“Aw, Keith can’t open the door.”   
“Well considering both of my hands are full, no duh,” Keith snapped.   
“Well then, let me be of some help and get the door for you,” suggested Allura.   
“That would be wonderful, thank you,” said Katie.  
“Oh, um, thanks,” said Keith. Allura quickly opened the door and the four filed through.   
“What are all these boxes for?” asked Allura as they set them down near the teacher’s desk. “And, where is everybody? Isn’t class supposed to be starting soon?”   
“Yeah, well, considering everyone else shows up right as class starts, or a few minutes late . . . well, that’s the main reason Mr. Takashi trusts us with helping him get a few things ready for class,” replied Hunk.  
“And these boxes are all of his lab supplies,” replied Katie. “My dad lets him keep it in the teacher’s lounge.”  
“And what was making him late again?” Lance asked Keith as he leaned up against a desk in the back corner.   
Keith let out a sigh. “His arm.”   
“Again?”   
“Yes, Lance, again, it’s full of metal to keep it from falling apart, and it gives him lots of problems still, like when the weather changes or . . .”   
“There’s metal in his arm?” asked Allura.   
Keith glanced at her for a second before replying with, “Yes, the accident shattered it. The doctors did everything they could to make sure they didn’t have to cut it off. So, this is what Shiro has to live with for the rest of his life. But he’s happy that he still has both arms.”   
“Oh, I-I’m sorry,” stuttered Allura, as memories of her mother flooded her mind.   
“Don’t be, you didn’t know,” replied Keith, his voice soft and soothing. It helped Allura to get over the near anxiety attack and smiled at him.   
“Well, hello there. Looks like the regulars are here, and, well, you must be Allura Altena,” said the young man who entered the room. “I’m your science teacher, Shiro Takashi.”  
“Oh, hello! Pleasure to meet you!” said Allura as they shook hands.   
“Wait a second, Altena? Are you by any chance related to Ms. Altena?” asked Lance.   
“Yes, Romelle’s my cousin,” replied Allura.  
“OK, are there any students here not related to one of the teachers?”   
“Yes, you and me,” replied Hunk.   
“I know that,” said Lance.   
Shiro chuckled. “Don’t worry about it Lance. Why don’t you guys get situated for science? I’m sure the rest of your classmates will be showing up any minute now.”   
“Yes, about that. Can I have a different lab partner? Keith’s getting on my nerves.”   
“Actually, yes, that’s a very good idea. I want Allura to have help to get situated into her new routine,” replied Shiro.   
“Well, I’m available,” said Lance with a sly grin.   
“Keith, since you’re the class rep, I want you to help Allura.” Keith glanced at him in shock before shooting a glance at Allura and the chair next to him.   
“Wait, what? Him?” asked Lance as he glanced between Keith and Shiro in shock.   
“Yes, him. I know how you are, Lance, and I’m sure Mr. Altena would like Allura to finish this class with top grades instead of being hit on by you every five minutes.”   
“Oh, fine. So who’s my partner?”   
“Hunk.”   
“Yes!” they cheered and high-fived before dashing to their seats. Katie took the desk nearest Keith as Allura sat down in the chair next to him. Just then, other students came trickling in.   
“We could move to a different desk, if you’d like,” Keith told Allura.   
“Oh no, this is fine. But, thank you.” Allura smiled brightly at him. Keith nodded before sitting down next to her as Shiro began calling out names for partners. Katie ended up with a tall girl named Shay. A couple took the desk in front of Keith and Allura.   
“So, you’re not stuck with Lance, anymore, huh?” asked the guy.   
Keith shot him a smirk, “Worried that he’ll steal Nyma from you?”   
“Nah, it just gets annoying after awhile,” the guy quipped.   
Nyma huffed, “What are you talking about Rolo, it was annoying to begin with.”   
“Oh, um, real quick, Rolo, Nyma, I’d like you to meet the new student at Arus High, Allura Altena.”   
“Hello, nice to meet you,” Allura said with a smile as she shook hands.   
“Nice to meet you too!” Nyma replied as she smiled back pleasantly and shook hands with Allura enthusiastically.   
“Ditto. Altena, huh? Are you related to . . .”   
“Romelle’s my cousin,” Allura replied with a laugh.   
Rolo chuckled. “Go figure. Her brothers are here.”   
“Bandor and Avok?” Allura asked excitedly.   
“Yeah, but we share the last few classes, including your cousin’s art class, with them, so you won’t be seeing them until after lunch,” Keith explained.   
“Can I get your attention please?” came Shiro’s voice above the din. Everyone had finally found seats. After a few seconds, the class finally quieted down. “Thank you. Seeing as how today’s the first day of school, there won’t be much homework.” A cheer went up at that. “However, we will be going through a couple of things in class today, since it’s mainly about meeting your lab partners as, you can tell, things have been switched around. There is another reason for that, but I will get to that in a second. To start off class, I would like everyone to stand, state your name and one or two things about yourself. We’re going to go one by one. But first, I’d like to introduce to you a new student! She’s the cousin of our own Miss Romelle Altena. Please stand, Allura!” A cheer went up as Allura rose and gave a few bows.   
“Hello! Thank you all for such a warm welcome. Yes, I am Allura Altena, Miss Altena’s cousin, and this is the first school I’ve ever been to. I was homeschooled my whole life because my father is an ambassador and moves around alot. We’re finally in a position to where I can attend a public school for the rest of my education. And, I’m sorry, Mr. Takashi, that was more than one sentence, but I’m just so happy to be here!”   
“That’s perfectly alright, Allura, we’re happy to have you. Who’s next?” Lance’s hand shot up, followed by Katie a mere second later. Shiro sighed. “Alright, Lance, make it quick.”   
“Hi, I’m Lance McClain, my family’s from Cuba, and I think you’re hot.” He shot her a grin and winked.   
Nyma leaned back. “That’s what I mean,” she muttered with a groan.   
“Um, OK, thank you Lance. Yes, Katie?”   
“Hi, I’m Katie Holt, my dad’s the president of the school, and my brother just graduated this last year with his teaching degree. He might come and teach here!” announced Katie with a huge grin.  
“That’s wonderful Katie! Maybe you could ask your dad if Matt could come help me?” asked Shiro.   
“I’ll mention it,” replied Katie as she sat down.   
“Thank you. Oh, wait, Keith, you’re class rep, you should go real quick.”   
Keith let out a sigh as he reluctantly stood up. “Fine, let’s get this over with. I’m Keith Takashi, I’m Shiro’s adopted brother, not full brother, so don’t ask about it. And I like my peace and quiet,” he said, shooting a glare at Lance.  
“Um, OK, thank you, please take your seat. Uh, next?” By the end of class, Allura learned quite a few things about her classmates. For instance, Hunk was Samoan and loved food, Rolo and Nyma started going out officially over the summer, and Shay had a fascination with geology, stones and jewels in particular. The next few classes proved to be a blast. Allura mainly hung out with Keith, Lance, Hunk, Katie, Shay, Rolo, and Nyma until lunch, especially when a group of interesting teens entered the cafeteria. Well, more like they ushered her away from them and told her about them in whispers, though Allura instantly recognised one of them. There were two guys and four girls, Lotor, as Keith grumbled, acted like he was the prince of the school. Not only was he handsome and athletic, he was smart too. There was Acxa, his on-again, off-again girlfriend, Zethrid who was more of a bodyguard than anything, and Ezor was basically the school gossip, she could spread rumors like no tomorrow. Then there was Narti and her seeing cat, as she was allergic to dogs, and would often help Ezor by gathering information to spread rumors. And the second guy, whose arm was draped over Ezor, the one Allura recognised, was none other than her cousin Avok. She wanted to rush up to him and announce her presence, but Keith and Lance, agreeing on something for once that day, held her back.   
“No!” hissed Keith.  
“But that’s my cousin!” Allura hissed back.   
“Never go near him when Lotor or any of those girls are around, he acts like a complete jerk!” snapped Keith. Allura let out a soft growl as she wrenched her arm away from him. But by then, they had detained her long enough for the group to pass. She glared at Keith, but her look softened a bit when she realized he was eyeing her with concern. Was there something else they weren’t telling her? Perhaps she could find out later, when her cousins would come over on Saturday. But first, she had to invite them. Her chance came when Romelle recognised her as she entered the classroom.   
“Allura! It’s been too long!” she exclaimed as she pulled her into a hug.   
“It’s good to see you too, Romelle,” replied Allura with a smile.  
“Hi there, Allura!” called out a teen who was easily two years younger than Allura.   
“Why, Bandor, you’ve grown! I feel like it was only yesterday you and Avok would pull at my pigtails.”  
“Well, sorry about that. I don’t know why Avok did it, but I only did it because I liked touching your hair. It’s so soft and fluffy!” he explained as he touched it again, very, very gently.   
“Yes, well, we’ll have time to reminisce later,” began Romelle.   
“Oh, speaking of, Father was wondering if you could come over Saturday for dinner.”   
“Oh, we’d love to! But really, please go sit down, class is starting!” Romelle exclaimed as she shooed them towards the desks. Bandor quickly and cheerfully showed Allura a desk that was next to his, which so happened to be in front of Keith. At that moment, Lotor and his group sauntered in, and Avok caught sight of Allura.   
His eyes seemed to light up as he rushed towards her. “Allura, it’s so good to see you!”   
Romelle cleared her throat, “Avok, please take your seat, class is about to begin. You’ll get to visit with her later.” She softened for a moment and gave a knowing smile to Avok. He seemed to catch her hint, grinned at Allura and quickly took his seat between Lotor and Ezor. Allura didn’t see him again outside of their shared classes for the rest of the day, even when Coran came to pick her up and give Romelle their address. That’s when she pondered over both Keith’s and Lance’s hesitance to let her speak to him. Was Lotor influencing him in a bad way? If the next few days were going to be similar, then she would have no choice but to wait until Saturday to find out anything. But an even greater surprise greeted her upon her arrival, as the television was blaring news about an attack.   
“Father, what’s going on?” asked Allura when she noticed his full attention was on the television set, and his face was ashen with shock.   
“This, uh, robotic beast showed up an hour ago, and has begun terrorizing the city. We don’t why it’s here, or what it wants. Authorities have tried everything they can think of and have had to take extreme precautions, but none of their weapons seem to have any effect on it. We can only hope and pray that something happens soon to end this.”   
“No, not now, not ready yet!” he whispered harshly.  
“Father, what . . .”  
Alfor beamed at her as he rose and gave her a hug, though there was still a bit of tension in his face. “Allura, you’re home, wonderful! Can you please go to your room? I, I must talk to Coran about something. Please.”   
“Um, alright?”  
“Thank you.” Her father smiled at her, patted her cheek, and walked off with Coran. Allura let out a sigh, she was dying to know what it was that worried her father. But she went to her room and put down her backpack. Yet another surprise was waiting for her in her room. A tiny box was sitting on her end table in her bedroom. With a gasp, she eagerly pounced on it and opened it to reveal a pair of pale blue, drop earrings.   
“Oh, these are beautiful,” she whispered as she put them on. This must have been what her father wanted her to find! She let out a shriek when a flash of light emanated from the earrings once she put them on, and a little mouse appeared, floating in the air.   
“Hello Allura, I’m your arusin, Chuchule! Nice to meet you!”  
“Ah! Who are you? What are you? What do you want? Father, Coran!”   
“No, no, please, no! You can’t tell anybody about me!” Chuchule quickly flew between Allura and the door.   
“What? Why not?”   
“You must keep me a secret, or else the master of the robeasts will find me, and we won’t be able to stop him!”   
“But, but why me?”   
Chuchule placed her little paw on Allura’s shoulder. “Because you were chosen. You clearly have skills, kindness, and courage, otherwise, you would not have been chosen.”   
“Chosen? By whom?”   
“I can’t say who just yet, you’re not ready to meet him. But we do have a robeast to take care of!”   
“But, but, how are we supposed to defeat it!” asked Allura with worry as she sat on her bed. Should she believe this little mouse? She really had no choice, what with the robeast being shown on the TV recently, and the little mouse suddenly appearing out of nowhere. And Allura knew she wasn’t dreaming, nor was she hallucinating. So this all had to be real.   
“Oh, that’s easy! It’s magic! When I join with your earrings, you gain all of my powers! You can run faster, jump farther, and leap higher than you’ve ever have before! You’ll also be stronger, with faster reflexes, have a sixth sense that warns you of danger, and a fantastic tail that you can turn into a whip that lets you swing like a monkey!” Chuchule let out a giggle at that.   
“Really? That, that actually sounds like fun.”   
“Oh, and you do have a special power that you can use only once each time you transform. You throw your whip up in the air and shout, ‘Power of Quintessence!’ and the robeasts will be transformed back and damage will be undone!”   
“Wait, back? Back into what?”   
“Oh, robeasts are normal people transformed into robeasts by an evil witch!”   
“Why is this evil witch doing this to these poor people?”   
“Because she and her evil friend want the powers of Voltron!”   
“What is Voltron?”   
“Voltron is a team of superheroes who protect everyone from evil! There’s typically two to start off with, and then the team grows. There’s seven in total, five of whom make up the actual Voltron team, as they are five large cats and there’s only two of us little mice. We mice have to make sure that Voltron stays together, and is kept a secret! That is, once we’ve done our first job and find the five cats. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do anything, after all, we are the only ones who can return the robeasts back to normal and revert the damage done! The five cats are needed mainly to defeat them in battle.”   
“Well then, let’s not waste any time, we have to save everybody!”   
“That’s the spirit! All you have to say to me is ‘Chuchule, squeak on!’”  
“Chuchule, squeak on? Whoa!” Chuchule responded immediately and flew into the earrings. Allura’s attire quickly changed in whirl of flashing, colorful lights. She was now dressed in a pink and white suit, a whip clipped to her belt that resembled a mouse’s tail, a matching mask, and her long hair was up in two buns made to look like mouse ears. “Whoa,” she said again, this time in astonishment as she checked out her new look in the mirror. “Alright, time to go save the city. I hope my partner shows up soon to the scene.” As quietly as a mouse, she left her home and rushed to the last known location of the robeast. It wasn’t long to find it after that, the creature wasn’t hard to spot, especially since it was leaving a rather large path of destruction in its wake. Allura gritted her teeth, she was glad that Chuchule had the power to not only revert the robeast, but also to revert the damage. There was certainly a lot of it. She chased down the robeast, only to pause as she finally got a good look at it. It was a huge, purple-skinned humanoid with large, wing-like ears, red eyes, and a wide, black-lipped, fishlike mouth full of long pointed teeth. It had clawed humanoid hands, while its feet had five long claws instead of toes and a large spike pointing back from the heel. Two short, rayed fins spread from the top of its shoulders like wings, and rayed fins run along the back of the calves. Two pointed drill-like spikes protrude from its chest.  
“Batbeast, coming through! I’m looking for Voltron! Has anybody seen Voltron?” it called out. Allura winced, its voice seemed like a mix of squeaky and gravelly, and it was very annoying. The fact that it was the ugliest thing she had ever seen didn’t help either.   
“H-hey Batbeast, are you looking for Voltron?” she shouted, catching its attention. It turned and looked at her before breaking out into a grin.   
“Oh ho! One of the little mice! Voltron would no doubt do everything they can to protect you!”   
“Say what?”   
“Oh, don’t you know how important you are to the team? What, did you think you could take me on all by your little self?”   
“Oh, well, um . . . yah!” She jumped out of the way as the Batbeast’s hand came slamming down on the spot where she had been standing. She rolled and leapt to another building, the Batbeast lumbering after her.  
“Oh man, I’ve got to be careful! Hmm . . . maybe . . .” She grinned as she leapt over the Batbeast’s head and landed gracefully. Years of ballet and karate were definitely paying off. She rushed towards the Batbeast, leapt, and kicked it hard, sending it flying. She unclipped her whip and sent it after the Bastbeast, catching a hold of its leg and pulled hard, smashing it into the ground. It moaned as she walked forward, keeping her eye on it with her hand on her whip and the whip on its leg, just in case. “Alright, robeast, time to revert! Power of . . . Ah!” The robeast’s other leg kicked out, sending her flying onto the pavement.   
“Neat trick, but you’ve got to do better than that,” the Batbeast grinned. Allura glanced at her hand, she had held onto her whip. She quickly rose as the Batbeast let out a growl and charged, jumping out of its way. Was she seriously only able to revert back to normal and leave the fighting to the cats? Or was she unable to fight this monster by herself? She let out a gasp as the Batbeast pulled a sword out of sheath that she hadn’t noticed before. OK, so yes, she was not meant to fight the robeasts by herself, but she was the only Voltron team member there! She leapt and rolled out of the way of the Batbeast’s sword. She had to disarm it if she wanted a chance! She ran as fast as she could, turned around, and wrapped her whip around the Batbeast’s arm, pulling it down as hard as she could. The Batbeast struggled against her, the two practically equal in strength. Suddenly, his arm went slack, causing Allura to stumble, before he yanked on the whip, pulling her towards him. With his free hand, he grabbed her, and trapped her behind two metal poles.   
“Hey!” she called out as she pushed on the poles. They budged just a tiny bit, maybe she could push them off.   
“Team Voltron! I have your precious mouse lady! If you don’t show up when I get to zero, I will cut her in half!” he roared, raising his sword over Allura’s head. She whimpered as she pushed even harder on the poles, move already! “Ten!” OK, so it budged a centimeter, keep pushing. “Nine! Eight!” Another centimeter! She didn’t need it open all the way, just enough to slip through. “Seven! Six! Five!” The Batbeast was too busy glancing around, hoping, apparently, to see the Voltron team arrive before they took him by surprise. As such, he wasn’t focusing on the fact that Allura was making some progress. “Four! Three!” Allura began to panic, she wasn’t going to make it! Or maybe. “Two! One! Zero!” The sword came crashing down as Allura fell through the poles to the ground. She didn’t even get a chance to get up when someone’s hand pushed her down and ordered her to stay down. Next thing she knew, she heard a clang. She glanced up to see a boy with a black lion’s mane on his shoulders blocking the Batbeast’s sword with his own.   
“The black lion of Voltron,” muttered the Batbeast as his lips curled into a evil grin. The black lion pushed on the swords before kicking the Batbeast. He turned and gave Allura a hand.   
“Are you alright?” he asked her as she rose from the ground.   
“Yes, thank you,” she replied with a smile. She paused as she gazed into his eyes. Two thoughts popped into her head, they were beautiful eyes, and she had the distinct feeling she had seen those eyes somewhere before.   
“Were you expecting to take care of the robeast yourself?” he asked, breaking into her thoughts.   
“No, just keeping it from hurting innocent civilians until you arrived, that’s all,” she replied as she pulled her hand away from him and crossed her arms. “Though, if you hadn’t gotten here when you did . . .”   
“We would have lost you, and from what my asurin was telling me about the mice, that’s not a good thing,” he said. The Batbeast interrupted them with its groans as it rolled over to get back up. The black lion readied his sword while Allura readied her whip. “Wait, is that a whip?” asked the black lion.   
“Uh, yeah,” replied Allura.   
The black lion let out a grin. “I think I have an idea. You see those poles there and there?” he asked, pointing out two poles opposite of each other.   
Allura let out a soft gasp. “You want me to trip him?”   
“Yup, but keep your whip slack until I give you the signal, alright?”   
“Right, but, what’s the signal?”   
“I’ll nod at you.”   
“Got it.” Allura dashed off to one pole and quickly swung her whip around the other, keeping the whip slack. She then waited, the Batbeast had gotten back up and had locked eyes with the black lion.   
“Hand over the belt buckle of the black lion, and I will stop rampaging this city!”  
“What are you talking about? We’re just getting warmed up.” The Batbeast let out a roar as he charged the black lion. Allura kept waiting, her fingers itching to pull her whip taut, but she waited for his signal. He nodded, she pulled, and the Batbeast fell over. The black lion jumped up and brought his sword down on a symbol Allura hadn’t seen there before, or anywhere. “Use your powers now!” he shouted. Allura raced over and held up her whip.   
“Power of Quintessence!” Her whip detached from its handle and raced around the robeast in a ribbon of pale purple light before it expanded to include the entire city. When it returned to Allura’s hand, the robeast was now a regular person confused as to what was going on, and the damage to the city had been repaired.   
“That, that was amazing!” stated the black lion as he rushed to Allura’s side.   
“Thank you! Whoa.” Allura nearly stumbled as a wave of drowsiness swept over her. Black lion placed his hands on her shoulders to steady her. “I guess that’s why we need two mice,” she muttered with a soft chuckle.   
“Are you going to be alright?” he asked her.  
“I, I think so, just need to sit for a minute,” she replied quickly. Now that the danger was past, she noticed his voice. Its softness, the way he spoke, it was just as similar to her as his eyes. Where had she heard it before?   
“Oh wow! That was so cool! How did you guys do that?” The two superheroes glanced up as the owner of the voice nearly got into their faces with his camcorder. Allura nearly gaped when she realized that it was Lance who was holding the camcorder, with Hunk and Katie trailing behind him.   
“Hey, back up! Can’t you tell she needs some rest?” snapped the black lion as he pushed back Lance.  
“So, you’re superheroes, huh? What are your names?” asked Lance, not one bit phased.   
“Ugh, you can call me Komainu,” replied the black lion.   
“Komainu?” asked everyone, even Allura. But it did force her to think about a superhero name. Unfortunately, she couldn’t exactly think straight.   
“Yes, the guardian lions of Japanese mythology. You must know your Japanese mythology quite well,” came another voice.   
“Mr. Takashi!” blurted Hunk.   
“Just Shiro outside of school, Hunk,” came his reply.   
“Yeah, well, I need to go, have a lot of other things to take care of today.” He paused and turned to Allura. “Are you sure you’ll be alright?”   
“Yes, I will be, thank you.”   
“Oh, we didn’t get your name!” blurted Lance.   
“Oh, um, I’m sorry, I’m a little too tired to think right now. I think I should head home and sleep. I’ll get back to you on the name.”   
“Hmm, how about . . . Little Mouse? I mean, no offence, but you look like a mouse,” said Hunk.   
“Well, that is the idea, but there is going to be another mouse joining our team, so, I don’t know if that will really work,” replied Allura.   
“We can figure that out when the other mouse arrives. For now, I think Little Mouse works,” stated Komainu.   
“Hey, shouldn’t you be going somewhere?” asked Lance, somewhat annoyed.   
“And I will be, once I make sure that you stop annoying Little Mouse long enough to go home and get some rest.”   
“Um, I didn’t agree to the name . . .”   
“Hey it works,” said Lance with a shrug.   
“It is kind of catchy,” remarked Komainu. Allura thought about it for a second.   
“Oh, alright, Little Mouse it is. You’re right Komainu, it is kind of catchy.”   
“Glad you agree. Now, are you going to go home, or should I carry you there?”   
“No! No, no, no, thank you, I’ll, I’ll go home now, thank you.”   
“But can’t you stay a little longer? There are so many questions I want to ask!” quipped Lance.   
“You’re going to have to wait for a time when she’s not so tired, alright?”   
“Komainu has a point, you should let her go home and try again next time, alright?” said Shiro as he placed his hand on Lance’s shoulder.   
“Oh, alright. As long you promise me an exclusive!”   
“I’ll consider it,” replied Allura before leaping away. For a while she thought she was being followed and checked to make sure that she wasn’t. She didn’t see anybody, but the feeling soon subsided, not long before she crawled back into her room and nearly collapsed on the bed, right as Chuchule flew out of her earrings, completely exhausted.   
“You did great for your first time on the job, Allura!” squeaked Chuchule.   
“Thanks Chuchule,” replied Allura with a smile as she rubbed the little mouse’s tummy. “Now, I don’t know about you, but I feel like I could sleep for weeks.”   
“Oh I feel the . . . same . . .” muttered Chuchule before falling sound asleep. Allura chuckled before she drifted off, quite glad that she didn’t have much, if any, homework to take care of. Eventually she would have to figure out how to handle both school and being a superhero without sleeping on her feet. But for now, sleep was good, really good.


	4. Little Mouse and Koumainu: Keith's POV (Miraculous AU)

The drive home was unusually quiet. Shiro usually liked to talk about the other grades he taught science to and their antics. But right then, Shiro kept glancing oddly at Keith. Keith let out a groan and gave in.   
“Why do you keep looking at me like that for?”   
“Just wondering if it’s the same Keith, that’s all. Whenever Allura was around, you changed, you seemed . . . different.”   
“Different how? Allura was the only thing that was different about today.”   
“Hmm . . . maybe you’re right.”   
“Well of course I am, today was only different because it was Allura’s first day. What more did you expect? Romelle to come rushing into your classroom to greet her cousin?” Keith let out a snort when Shiro blushed slightly.   
“Oh, alright, fine, just cut it out. I’m sorry, but, it was just so odd to see you act so . . . soft and kind around her.”   
“Hey, remember, you keep drilling into me that as class rep, it’s supposed to be my job.”   
“Alright, glad to hear all that drilling finally paid off.” But when they came to a stop at a red light, Shiro leaned in. “So, you’re absolutely sure you’re not falling in love with Allura on her first day here?”  
“What? No . . . yes! I’m sure! Now cut it out!” Keith pushed Shiro back, only for the two to turn it into a playful brawl, until Shiro yelped. “Shiro! I’m so sorry! Are you alright? I didn’t mean to . . .”   
“Oh, no, the light turned green. And man, you fall for that every time,” replied SHiro with a grin as the car lurched forward.   
“Shiro! Come on! How do you expect me to know when you’re actually hurting?”   
“Oh believe me, you’ll know,” quipped Shiro.   
Keith crossed his arms. “I’m not sure if I want to know. I just don’t to go back into the system.”   
“I know, Keith. Just two more years, and you won’t have to worry about it anymore. Except maybe helping me with my diapers every now and then.”   
“What?” exclaimed Keith. Shiro merely laughed. “Oh come on Shiro, that’s disgusting!”   
“What? Admit it, you were seriously wondering if I did, didn’t you?” Keith just grumbled in reply. Shiro just laughed as he pulled into their driveway. It was a pretty small house, just three bedrooms and one bath, with one of the bedrooms turned into Shiro’s office. Keith immediately walked off towards his room, but not before Shiro called him.   
“Hey, Keith! You feel like Chinese or pizza tonight?”   
“Chinese, I guess,” replied Keith with a shrug before he closed his door. It didn’t matter to him, they didn’t have many options thanks to Shiro’s medical bills. Thankfully, a couple of the lunch ladies would sneak them whatever leftovers they had. Sometimes it wasn’t much, but for the weekends, it usually was all they had. Shiro found out that they really weren’t supposed to do that, but they told him it was better than letting all that food, little as it sometimes may be, go to waste and tossed when someone could have it. They were also the ones who told them about the food drive that the school district did over the summer, and the two had never been so happy. With as much food as they got every week, they practically feasted that summer. Shiro didn’t have to worry about purchasing food and could save up that money for something else. Now, they were getting back into the old swing of things, lunch at school, take-out for dinner. Keith let out a sigh as he slumped on his bed. Well, this year should be interesting, what with a new Altena at school. Keith just hoped that she would come to understand why he and Lance wouldn’t let her near Lotor. He pictured Allura in his mind, she was so pure and innocent, yet he could sense a fire burning within. He didn’t want Lotor to tarnish her, to put put that fire. Keith unknowingly watched it happen with Avok before finally realizing what was happening, but by then, it was too late. He liked Romelle, he liked Bandor, he had even liked Avok too, before Lotor got to him. And now he simply refused to let another Altena fall to the influence and clutches of Lotor. He didn’t know what Lotor wanted with the Altenas in general, that not only drove Keith nuts, it also worried him. As such, he swore to protect the other three, if not for Avok’s sake, for Shiro’s as Keith did notice how close the two teachers had been getting. A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.   
“Hey Keith? I’ve placed the order, the driver should be here in a few minutes. Keep an ear out for him, please? I’m going to take a shower.”   
“Alright.”   
“Thanks! Money’s on the table!” Keith heard Shiro walk into the bathroom and start his shower. Letting out a sigh, Keith rose from his bed, and paused. Was that there when he came in? A rectangular box was sitting on his desk, one he had never seen before. Did Shiro get him something? But that wasn’t right, Keith’s birthday wasn’t until October. So then, what was it for? Curious, he opened the box. Inside was a belt buckle with the image of a lion etched in black. OK, it actually looked pretty cool, and Keith tried it on, it fit his belt like it was made for it. But then, a flash of light emanated from it, and the next thing Keith knew, a little lion with a black mane and violet eyes was floating before him.   
“Ah!” yelped Keith as he fell backwards, onto his bed. “Wh-what are you? Shiro!”   
“No, sh! You can’t tell anybody about me!”   
“Then what are you?”   
“I’m a magical being called an arusin, my name is Blachu. I merge with the belt buckle to give you superpowers!”   
Keith blinked in surprise. “Say, say what? Superpowers?”   
“Yes! I can make you go faster, leap higher, jump farther, than you have ever done before! My tail can even turn into a sword!”   
“A sword?” asked Keith, perhaps with a bit too much longing in his voice.   
“You like swords? Nice! Yes, my tail can turn into a sword! I think we’re going to have lots of fun!” Blachu quickly covered his stomach with his paws when it grumbled and grinned sheepishly. “Um, do you have anything to eat?”   
Keith’s eyes widened. “The Chinese food!” He dashed out of his room, just in time to hear some knocking at the front door. He rushed over, grabbed the money, and rushed to the door, flinging it open. “Uh, hi.”   
“Hello, here is your order. That will be twenty-five dollars and thirteen cents.” Keith quickly counted out the money, and realized Shiro rounded up to twenty-six and added four dollars.  
“Right, um, here you go,” said Keith, handing him the wad of bills.   
“Thank you, have a wonderful day!” replied the driver quite cheerfully as he exchanged the food for the money.   
“Thanks, and the same to you!” replied Keith as the driver walked away. He knew Shiro would kill him if he wasn’t at least somewhat cordial. He quickly shut the front door, locked it, and let out a breath. He set the food on the table as he glanced at the clock, it was pretty early, not even five yet. Then he noticed the sad, hungry little face of Blachu. He reached into the bag, fished around for a bit, before pulling out a dumpling and handing it to Blachu. “Here, try this.” Blachu inched forward and sniffed it.   
“What is it?”   
“It’s a dumpling. You haven’t been out for long, have you?” asked Keith as Blachu took a few licks.   
“No, it’s been several years since any of us has been out.” Blachu decided that dumplings tasted good, took the food from Keith, and began chewing on it.   
“Any of us?”   
Blachu nodded as he swallowed before replying with, “Yes, there are seven of us total, five cats and two mice. We cats do the majority of the fighting while the two mice, though they are excellent warriors, are better off using their powers, the power of quintessence. They can revert all damage done by a monster, like nothing had happened. We cats must protect them at all costs because without them, nothing could go back to normal.”   
“And, what are these monsters? Do you have a special power?”   
“The monsters vary, sometimes they are true monsters and must be completely destroyed, sometimes they are people being controlled by an evil entity, and we must find the symbol of their controller to break the spell and enable the mice to revert them back to normal people. And yes, we do have a special power, it’s called forming Voltron!”   
“Huh?”   
“When the five cats are together, we can form a giant robot! I am the head and chest, the cheetah is the right arm, the lynx is the left arm, the panther is the right leg, and the tiger is the left leg. Then there are the two mice, the white house mouse and the brown field mouse.” Blachu paused as he took another bite and glanced at Keith oddly.   
“Uh, what? Why are you looking at me like that for?”   
“Oh, um, it’s just that, the holders, or the paladins, of the black lion and the white mouse tend to fall in love and get married,” blurted Blachu.   
Keith blinked. “Say what?”   
“Keith, is everything alright?” Keith and Blachu paused and slowly glanced at the bathroom door before Keith snatched up Blachu and the dumpling, rushed into his room and began taking out the few homework assignments he had.   
“Uh, uh, yeah, yeah, everything’s fine! Just, just one of the problems was worded weird, that’s all!” Keith quickly shouted back. He and Blachu let out a breath when they heard Shiro laughing.   
“Alright. Did the Chinese food come?”   
“Yeah, about a couple of minutes ago,” replied Keith.   
“Good. I’ll be out in a minute to take care of it.”   
“Alright!” Keith let out a grin as Blachu chuckled softly before letting out a satisfied sigh.  
“Dumplings are good. Can I try the rest of the Chinese food?”   
“Alright, I’ll see if I can sneak it in here for you.”   
“Thanks! Oh, aren’t you wondering?”   
“Wondering about what?”   
“You haven’t asked why you yet! Everyone else I’ve ever been with asked that question.”   
“Well, would it be weird if I said because this felt right, like, I’m meant to do this?”   
“Whoa, you’re already thinking like that?” asked Blachu.   
“Yeah, well, before, when I was in foster care, I felt . . . lost. I wanted to know what my purpose was. When Shiro came and got me out, becoming my legal guardian, I thought I had something of a purpose, making sure that he was alright, but, it didn’t seem like it was what I was meant to do. Then I met some people, I got it the most when I met this girl today . . .”   
“Ooohhhh,” said Blachu.   
“Hey, don’t you start either,” Keith mumbled.   
“But you do like her,” said Blachu with a grin.   
“Didn’t you say that whoever’s with you gets together with the white mouse?”   
“Yeah, but you don’t know if she is the white mouse,” quipped Blachu. The two became quiet as they heard the bathroom door open and Shiro’s footsteps walking into the dining room as he hummed. Keith moaned.   
“I’m so glad he’s not a music teacher.” Blachu snickered. Just then the phone rang. “Oh good.”   
“Hello? Oh, hello Mr. Holt! I actually wanted to talk to you . . . wait, what?” There was a pause. “No, I haven’t seen Katie since school ended.” Another pause. “Say what? A robotic what is attacking the city?” Keith and Blachu glanced at each other in alarm.   
“A robeast,” whispered Blachu. Keith jumped up and walked to his door. “No, no, I’ll head out right now to look for them. I’ll bring them to my house until everything passes over, alright? And I’ll call you when I get back. You’re welcome sir.” Keith opened the door to his room as Shiro returned the phone to its receiver.   
“Shiro? What was that about?”   
“Apparently Mr. Holt is worried, Katie’s not back yet, and there’s some kind of robotic beast attacking the city. I’m going out to find her. You’re staying here.”   
“Wait, what?”   
“In case anyone else calls. If Katie’s still out, that means she’s still with Lance and Hunk. If their families call, I want you to let them know I’m looking for them. I’ll be back in a bit.”   
“But, Shiro!” began Keith, only to be cut off by Shiro closing the front door behind him. “Ugh! Blachu!” Blachu zipped around the corner. “How do you merge with the belt?”   
“You have to say, Blachu, roar out!”   
“What? Oh, never mind, we’ll talk about that later. Blachu . . .” Keith was interrupted by the phone. “Well, at least it’s now rather than later,” he mumbled as he quickly picked up the phone. “Hello, Takshishi residence.”   
“Hello, is Shiro Takashi there?” came a female voice.   
“No, this is his brother Keith. May I ask who’s calling?”   
“This is Mrs. McClain, I’m Lance’s mother. I’m with Hunk’s folks right now, neither one have come home! And there’s a monster on the loose!”   
“Yes ma’am, I know, that’s why Shiro’s not here. We just got a call from Principal Holt, Katie’s not back yet, and since she tends to hang out with Lance and Hunk, well, we’re on our way to look for them. As soon as we find them, we’ll bring them here and call you to let you know that they’re fine.”   
“Oh thank you so much! You’re such an angel! I could just hug you!”  
Keith bit his lip to keep from sounding disgusted. “Yes, I’m sure you would. Um, could you please pass the word to Hunk’s folks? We’ll be sure to call you when we’re back.”   
“Thank you again so much!”   
“You’re welcome. Um, bye!” said Keith with a smile, trying to get her off the phone. Not to be rude or anything, but, he needed to go.   
“Good bye, and good luck!”  
“Right,” he said, before he hung up the phone. He turned to Blachu, “Let’s do this. Blachu, roar out!” Blachu flew into the belt buckle, and the changes happened instantly. Keith was in a red and white suit with a black mane-like hoodie. But he didn’t pause to glance at his new outfit, he rushed out the door, leaping and bounding through the streets. Where should he go first? How was he going to find the robeast? Was a mouse already on the scene? He hoped not, as Blachu had said, they were good fighters, but they were needed to repair the damage the robeasts, or any monsters, had caused. Apparently none of the cats could do it, only the mice. Which did make them pretty important. With a grunt, he leapt to the top of the buildings to try and get an idea of where to start looking. It didn’t take long to see the path the robeast had carved out of several buildings, and the throngs of screaming people running in the opposite direction. “Well, that was easy,” he muttered as he took off in the direction the screaming people were running from.   
“Katie!” Keith paused, was that the Katie Shiro was looking for? He glanced around, sure enough, it was Katie Holt, dangling from a twenty-story building. How did she get up there? Lance and Hunk were running towards her. “Hang on!” shouted Lance. Keith let out a soft growl, they weren’t going to make it in time, she was about to lose her grip.   
“Lance, Hunk!” Katie called out, right as she lost her grip and fell. Keith jumped for her, grabbed a hold of her, flipped in midair, and landed on his feet.   
“Whoa, that was awesome!” exclaimed Hunk as he and Lance approached the two.   
“Team Voltron! I have your precious mouse lady! If you don’t show up when I get to zero, I will cut her in half!” came a voice over the din. Keith let out a gasp, that was the robeast, and it had a mouse! He practically shoved Katie into Lance’s arms.   
“Take care of her!” he shouted before turning and rushing off in the direction of the voice.   
“Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six!” That’s right, keep counting as loud as possible, lead me to you, even though it’s a trap, though Keith. He rushed down a couple of streets and turned a couple of corners, he could tell he was getting close. “Five! Four! Three!” He turned another corner, and saw the robeast, looking like an odd contraption of robot and bat. He had his sword out, over the spot where the mouse lady, the white mouse, in fact, was struggling with two poles wrapped around her. She just about had enough room to squeeze out and drop to the ground. Keith unclipped his tail and rushed forward as it changed into a sword. “Two! One! Zero!” The white mouse dropped to the ground and the sword came crashing down on her. But Keith had arrived.   
“Stay down!” he ordered as he lifted up his sword to meet the robeast’s sword, hoping that it could take it. A sharp clang rang out as the two blades met, but Keith’s sword stayed intact, and Keith found he could match the robeast’s strength.   
“The black lion of Voltron,” muttered the robeast as its lips curled into an evil grin. So, it was looking for the Voltron team, but why? Keith quickly glanced over its form, he couldn’t see a symbol that indicated that this robeast was under control of somebody, but Keith had a feeling it was, and whoever was controlling it was looking for Voltron for some reason. Keith pushed up on his sword, sending the robeast’s sword up, and kicking it as hard as he could to give him and the white mouse some breathing space. He turned to give her a hand up.   
“Are you alright?” he asked her. She took his hand and stood up.   
“Yes, thank you,” she replied with a smile. She paused, and the two gazed into each other’s eyes. Did she know that every other person who had had the white mouse would end up with whoever had the black lion? But that wasn’t the only thought in Keith’s head. Why did she seem so familiar? He snapped out of his thoughts, they had a mission to finish.   
“Were you expecting to take care of the robeast yourself?” he asked.   
She seemed to shake herself from her own thoughts before replying with, “No, just keeping it from hurting innocent civilians until you arrived, that’s all.” She pulled her hand from his and crossed her arms. He didn’t even realize he had still been holding it. “Though, if you hadn’t gotten here when you did . . .” she began.   
He walked towards her, finishing the thought, “We would have lost you, and from what my asurin was telling me about the mice, that’s not a good thing.” The robeast could be heard groaning, reminding Keith that they weren’t out of danger yet. He readied his sword, and noticed that she had a whip. “Wait, is that a whip?”   
“Uh, yeah,” she replied. Keith thought fast, if the robeast’s symbol wasn’t on the front or that sides that he could see, then maybe it was on its back. An idea began to form in his head and a grin began to form on his face.   
“I think I have an idea. You see those poles there and there?” he asked, pointing out two poles opposite of each other.   
The girl let out a gasp. “You want me to trip him?” Keith’s grin grew bigger, she was smart and caught on quick, he liked that.   
“Yup, but keep your whip slack until I give you the signal, alright?”   
“Right, but, what’s the signal?”   
Keith thought quickly. “I’ll nod at you.”  
“Got it,” she said before taking off for the poles. Keith kept his focus on the robeast, he didn’t want it to guess at what his plan was, nor did he want it to catch the white mouse again. The robeast finally got up and locked eyes with Keith.   
“Hand over the belt buckle of the black lion, and I will stop rampaging this city!”  
Keith scoffed, “What are you talking about? We’re just getting warmed up.” The robeast let out a roar and charged, but Keith didn’t move a muscle. He was waiting for the robeast to reach the right spot before signalling the white mouse to pull the whip taut. He waited and watched, and when the robeast finally reached the right spot, Keith glanced over at the white mouse and nodded. She pulled, and the robeast went tumbling over. Keith jumped up and took a quick look over the robeast’s back. Ah-ha, there it was! A glowing purple symbol, there, on the left side of its back, though, it looked oddly familiar. Keith brought his sword down on the symbol and heard a distinct snap. He glanced at the white mouse as he jumped off, shouting, “Use your powers now!”  
The white mouse raced forward and raised her whip high, shouting “Power of Quintessence!” Keith watched in amazement as the whip detached from its handle and whirled around the robeast in a pale purple whirlwind before expanding to include the entire city. When it returned to the white mouse’s hand, the city was back to normal and the robeast was a normal, yet confused, person.   
“Whoa!” Keith whispered. He shook himself out of his stupor and ran towards the white mouse. “That, that was amazing!”   
She grinned at him. “Thank you! Whoa.” Keith reached out his hands and grabbed her shoulders to steady her as she stumbled. “I guess that’s why we need two mice,” she chuckled.   
“Are you going to be alright?” asked Keith, worried that she had used too much power. They had better find the rest of the team and fast if they were expected to make it through the day without collapsing, especially her.   
“I, I think so, just need to sit for a minute,” she replied as she allowed him to steer her towards a chair. Keith tried to figure out what made her so familiar to him when they were rather rudely interrupted.   
“Oh wow! That was so cool! How did you guys do that?” Keith nearly blew his cover by letting out a soft growl when he realized it was Lance who had spoken as he recorded them on his camcorder. Katie and Hunk weren’t far behind him. Of course, they had followed Keith. But he only got even more annoyed when Lance tried to get close.   
“Hey, back up! Can’t you tell she needs some rest?” Keith snapped as he pushed Lance back from the white mouse. Why couldn’t the idiot just leave girls alone?   
“So, you’re superheroes, huh? What are your names?” asked Lance, training the camcorder on Keith. Keith let out a moan, he really hadn’t thought of a name. Well, wait, what about all those Japanese stories that Shiro’s family liked to tell? Wasn’t there a lion creature? Oh yes.   
“Ugh, you can call me Komainu.”   
“Komainu?” asked the others. Clearly only Shiro and Keith really knew that much about Japanese mythology.   
“Yes, the guardian lions of Japanese mythology. You must know your Japanese mythology quite well,” came another voice. Keith’s eyes widened as Shiro walked on to the scene, he just hoped Shiro didn’t recognize him.  
“Mr. Takashi!” blurted Hunk.   
“Just Shiro outside of school, Hunk,” came Shiro’s reply. Keith quickly thought of a way to get out of there, Shiro had found the three he had been looking for, it was only a matter of time before he’d take them back to their home.   
Keith quickly spoke, “Yeah, well, I need to go, have a lot of other things to take care of today.” He paused and turned to Allura, he was still worried about her. “Are you sure you’ll be alright?”  
She nodded at him, a soft smile on her face. “Yes, I will be, thank you.”   
“Oh, we didn’t get your name!” blurted Lance. Keith rolled his eyes and bit his tongue, someday, that kid was going to get it.   
“Oh, um, I’m sorry, I’m a little too tired to think right now. I think I should head home and sleep. I’ll get back to you on the name.”   
“Hmm, how about . . . Little Mouse? I mean, no offence, but you look like a mouse,” said Hunk. Keith had to agree with that, she looked really cute as well. But, what about the other mouse? What name would the other mouse have?   
“Well, that is the idea, but there is going to be another mouse joining our team, so, I don’t know if that will really work,” she replied.   
Keith shrugged, the name was already growing on him. “We can figure that out when the other mouse arrives. For now, I think Little Mouse works.”   
“Hey, shouldn’t you be going somewhere?” asked Lance, somewhat annoyed.   
Keith shot him a glare. “And I will be, once I make sure that you stop annoying Little Mouse long enough to go home and get some rest.”   
“Um, I didn’t agree to the name . . .”   
“Hey it works,” said Lance with a shrug.   
“It is kind of catchy,” remarked Keith. He just didn’t want to admit just yet that he thought it was as cute as she was.   
“Oh, alright, Little Mouse it is. You’re right Komainu, it is kind of catchy.”   
“Glad you agree. Now, are you going to go home, or should I carry you there?” he asked as he placed a hand on her shoulder.  
“No! No, no, no, thank you, I’ll, I’ll go home now, thank you.”   
“But can’t you stay a little longer? There are so many questions I want to ask!” quipped Lance.   
“You’re going to have to wait for a time when she’s not so tired, alright?”   
“Komainu has a point, you should let her go home and try again next time, alright?” said Shiro as he placed his hand on Lance’s shoulder.   
“Oh, alright. As long you promise me an exclusive!”   
“I’ll consider it,” replied Little Mouse before she lept away. Keith quickly followed suit, going off in one direction before quickly changing course and following Little Mouse from a distance. He could tell that she sensed him following her, but being a black lion meant he could use the shadows to his advantage and managed to keep out of her sight. When he noticed that she seemed to be getting close to her destination, he quickly turned and rushed back home. He had to get back before Shiro and the others! Panting, he realized with a grin that he made it back before them and dashed into the house.   
“Um . . . Blachu, roar out!” Blachu came flying out of the belt as Keith’s suit disappeared. Keith took the Chinese food, fished out two dumplings, and placed the rest in the fridge. “Whew, that was close!”   
“No kidding!’ replied Blachu between happy mouthfuls of dumpling. “And we still made it back before they did!”   
“And before that robeast could kill Little Mouse!”   
Blachu seemed to shiver, “That was a real close call.”   
“So, how did I do for my first day?” asked Keith.  
“Awesome! You’re really good! Almost as good as my last paladin!” Blachu paused and seemed to grow sad.   
“Blachu?”   
“I really miss my old paladin, we had such great times. You remind me so much of him. But, I guess that’s part of the reason why I like you a lot, Keith.”   
“I like you too, Blachu. And it’s alright, you can still miss him.” Blachu flew to Keith’s cheek and rubbed his cheek against it. Keith let out a soft sigh and rubbed back. The two paused, there was the sound of a key turning in the lock. “Quick, Blachu, my jacket!” whispered Keith as he held it open. Blachu ducked in before Keith made his way to the door and opened it. “Shiro!”   
“Hey! Sorry it took so long, but, we kind of had a little adventure,” said Shiro as he ushered in Lance, Hunk and Katie.   
“There were two superheroes!” blurted Hunk.   
“And Komainu saved me!” Katie quickly added.   
“And Little Mouse is so adorable!” cooed Lance.   
“Wait, what?” OK, first Allura, and now Little Mouse. Did this guy ever take a break?   
Shiro let out a soft chuckle. “I’ll let them explain, I have some phone calls to make.”   
“Oh, Mrs. McClain did call, she was with Hunk’s family.”   
Shiro nodded. “Thanks Keith.” He went to making the calls while Lance, Hunk, and Katie explained everything that had happened. When the robeast had attacked, the group had been on their way to the mall to take a look at the new game system being shown that day. But then the crowd running form the robeast came in, broke them up, and Katie retreated to the closest, tallest building to see if she could find her friends when the robeast walked by, smashing through the building, leaving Katie trapped with nowhere to go but down. From there on out, Keith knew the rest, but it wasn’t hard to add in exclamations of awe or astonishment as Keith had no idea how awesome he looked when he moved, he just acted, thinking only of the mission, destroying the robeast. They also convinced Keith to instruct them on some Japanese mythology, eventually learning not just about the komainu, but also about a few other large cat-like creatures. Shiro eventually interrupted them with a little announcement.   
“Listen up everybody, I’ve called your folks, they’re going to meet us at Olive Garden.”   
“Alright, food! I’m starving!” quipped Hunk, the first one out the door.   
“Don’t you ever think of anything else besides food?” quipped Lance as he followed him.   
“Don’t you ever think of anything else besides cute girls?” Hunk shot back.   
“Uh-oh, shots fired,” quipped Katie.   
“Well, I’m taking Hunk’s side, I’m hungry. Three dumplings isn’t exactly very filling.”   
Shiro blinked as he locked the door. “Then, where’s the rest of the food?”   
“In the fridge,” replied Keith. “Hey! No, you’re sitting in the back!”   
“But I called shotgun!” replied Lance as Keith dragged him out and practically tossed him in the back with Hunk and Katie.  
“Too bad, this is Shiro’s car, I own shotgun.”  
“If you two are going to fight about it, I’m giving it to Katie!” stated Shiro firmly. The two sat down and buckled their seatbelts grumbling. It was a little while after Shiro had pulled out of the driveway that Hunk attempted to break the tension by talking about Italian food. Katie soon joined in, being Italian herself, and the conversation eventually got the other three to open up about what they were going to get. And though Lance was still annoying, talking about how cute both Allura and Little Mouse were in one breath, Keith’s spirits were still high. He had found his place, and quite possibly a future girlfriend, according to Blachu, but he had never been happier.


	5. Kessho Chronicles (Tsubasa Chronicles AU)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For fans of Tsubasa Chronicles, Keith and Syaoran are pretty similar, as are Sakura and Allura. This was just too perfect. Might turn this into a series . . . one day.

The door of a quaint little house opened and a teen entered, his mouth covered with a scarf and a hood over his head to protect himself from the elements. He closed the door, put down the bag he had been shouldering, pulled down the scarf and glanced at a picture on the mantle of him as a young boy and his father.   
“Well, I’m back dad. Don’t worry, I didn’t destroy anything today. Yesterday was just an accident. You know I wouldn’t get mad at the dig, I lose myself out there, like, every other thought leaves my mind except for the dig and . . .” A knock at the door interrupted him. He blinked. “Now who could that be?” He went to open it.   
“Keith!” shouted figure at the door before toppling Keith to the ground in a bear hug.   
“P-princess!”   
“Allura.”   
“Say, say what?”   
“Stop saying princess and say my name! Allura!” she enunciated. “Come on! You’re basically my only friend, you of all people should be allowed to call me by my name.”   
“Alright, how about we make a deal? I’ll call you Allura if you stop tackling me to the ground,” muttered Keith.   
Allura blinked before letting out a little squeal and bounced off of Keith. “I’m sorry, I’m just so excited that you’re back! It gets so lonely up at the castle. I mean, yes, I have Father and Coran, but, it’s not the same without my best friend,” she replied with a pout.   
Keith let out a chuckle as he rose from the ground. “It’s alright, I missed you too.”   
“Alright!” she cheered as she jumped up and gave Keith a big hug.   
“Maybe we need to cut back on the hugs too, you’re kind of squeezing me too tightly.”   
“Oh, sorry,” muttered Allura as she took a step back.   
“I mean, I don’t mind it when you hug me, just, don’t hug me too tightly, alright? I’d like to be able to finish this dig. Oh, speaking of. That’s why I’m back, I need to get a few supplies and head back out there.”   
“You have to head back so soon?” asked Allura as she followed him around the house, picking up another bag and and some coins before heading out the door.   
“Yeah, I have to,” he said as he closed the door behind her. “It’s almost done. I think I’ll be able to give your dad some answers either tomorrow or the day after, as long as there’s no more sandstorms to interfere.” The two began walking into the city, aiming for the market stalls.  
“Not fun. You need to stay in the city sometimes.”  
“I’ll try, but, I’m so close to finding out what it was used for! I can feel it!”   
“And after that?”   
“And after that . . . well, I haven’t exactly given it much thought. Maybe go to another dig?” he replied before pausing to purchase some bread.   
“No, after that you’re coming to the castle to stay with us,” blurted Allura as he placed the purchase in his bag. He straightened up and glanced at her questioningly.   
“Now, why would I do that?”   
“Oh, because there might be another position opening up, and I think you’ll be interested,” she said with a smirk.   
“What are you getting at . . . Allura?”   
She turned and began walking backwards as she shot him a mischievous grin. “Now, what’s with that tone of yours? That won’t work for this new position.”   
“Well, if your tone of voice said anything, you put your father up to it,” he said before heading towards the next stall and purchasing some cheese.   
“Oh, I think he wanted to do it. See, he came to talk to me about it and asked if I thought that you would be interested.”  
Keith placed the cheese in his bag as he said, “Oh he did, did he? So then, why won’t you tell me more about this new position?”   
“Oh, because I think Father wanted to talk to you specifically about it,” she said as they moved on to the next stall. Allura’s favorite fruit, pink-tinged, golden peaches, were on display.   
“Oh really? Then I guess I shall just have to talk to him about it, don’t I?” he asked as he paid for three peaches and gave her one while putting the other two in his bag.   
“Definitely, you see . . .”   
“There she is! Princess! Princess!”   
Allura gasped. “The guards! They found me!”   
“If your father has no problem with me, then why do you sneak out to see me?”   
“Because those guards are nosy. Run!” She grabbed his hand and began to run.   
“Allura!” yelped Keith as his legs obeyed her command. They zigged and zagged throughout the town, eventually losing the guards and making it outside the city limits before falling on their backs in the meadow, panting.   
“Well, we lost them,” Keith said between gulps of air.   
“Oh good, they really were nosy,” replied Allura between gulps of air. The two glanced at each other and burst out laughing. “But boy, that was fun!” she exclaimed. She raised her hand, and the two paused. They didn’t realize that they had been holding hands the entire time. The two yelped and jumped away from each other, feeling rather embarrassed, Allura in particular was blushing.   
“S-s-sorry about that,” stuttered Keith.   
“Oh, no, no, no, no, you’re you’re fine!” stuttered Allura with a smile as she glanced at him. She plucked a juniberry and planted it in her hair. “Keith, do you prefer the meadow or the desert?”   
“Um, maybe the meadow? No sand getting in everything. Allura?” he asked when he noticed her fidgeting with her hair. He moved closer, just as she turned around with a sigh and glanced at him.   
“Actually, there was something that I wanted to tell you, the main reason, actually, in why I wanted to lose the guards.” He felt her hand touch his, but he only got closer, her blue eyes pulling him in like a magnet.   
“Wh-what’s that?” he asked softly when she didn’t continue right away. She glanced away for a second, her blush turning redder than the juniberry in her hair. She let out a breath and composed herself before glancing at Keith. They were so close now that they could kiss, and Keith right at that moment wanted to, she looked so pretty. But then again, he had never known her to be anything less beautiful than she was now.   
“Keith, I-I . . . I lo . . . ah!” The two yelped and jumped in surprise when a bell echoed across the valley. “Ugh! I hate that bell! I swear it’s the bane of my existence!” Allura growled as she rose and began to stomp off. “And now I have to head back! We’re having some dinner with some neighboring country’s diplomats!”   
“Allura, wait!”   
Allura paused. “Listen, what I was going to say earlier, what I’ve been wanting to say for a while now, it’s . . . I’ll tell you at my birthday party, alright? You will be there and not the dig?” She turned and glanced at him hopefully.   
Keith smiled. “I’ll be there, I promise.”   
“Alright, and I’ll hold you to that promise, or I’ll march out to the dig and drag you to the castle by your hair if I have to.”  
Keith snorted. “Right, good luck with that. But have no fear, I shall be there, as always.”   
Allura smiled. “Good, because I really, really want to tell you. See you later, Keith!” She waved to him before dashing off across the meadow back towards the city. Keith waved back before lowering his arm and just watching her leave. He had something he wanted to tell her, something he needed to tell her.   
“I love you, Allura,” he whispered into the breeze before turning and began walking towards the desert.   
Meanwhile, in a room sitting across from a mirror was a purple-skinned figure clad in black. A woman entered the room.  
“It’s almost time, Zarkon, the boy has nearly uncovered the whole ruins. It will soon be time to awaken the princess’ quintessence and send it across the realities,” she said, glancing at the mirror. The mirror was just playing the scene between Keith and Allura.   
“Good, soon, I will have my hands on Voltron and the princess’ quintessence, and there’s nothing Alfor can do to stop me,” said Zarkon as he glanced into an adjacent room with the door ajar. There was a glass tube, and a young man’s body floating in the liquids within it, still very much alive. “Yes, very soon, I shall have my wish, Voltron will be mine.”


End file.
